ELBURN – Hours before sitting down to Thanksgiving dinner, neighbors in the Blackberry Creek subdivision in Elburn continued a holiday tradition Thursday.

Twenty-six men and some older boys showed up for an 8 a.m. game of flag football, an event that was launched seven years ago by Elburn Trustees Jeff Walter and Mark Wilson. And before players began warming up, they dropped off food donations with the goal of filling Walter’s Chevrolet Tahoe. That goal was met. The food will be given to the Elburn Food Pantry.

“That’s why we do this,” Walter said. “And it’s a good reason for neighbors to get together and meet each other. There were a good eight or nine that had never played before. It was nice to meet some neighbors.”

Walter said it was a successful day – there were no major injuries (a pulled calf was the worst), more than 200 pounds of food were collected and his team won.

Wilson said the event “keeps snowballing.” He said there haven’t been serious injuries at the event, and the emphasis has been on having a good time on a holiday.

“We get everybody together for Thanksgiving,” Wilson said. “And we all give a little back at the same time.”

Wilson said when the event was launched, he hadn’t thought it still would be going strong seven years later. He said it’s a good time, everybody is respectful and he’s happy to have the opportunity to provide some help in the holiday season.

“We’re all pretty fortunate,” he said. “It’s a good thing to be able to give back if you can.”

After the men played, there was a game for the youths. It was the first time for that experience.